Members of the Cocke County Finance Committee heard a plan from the Cocke County Fire Department on Monday evening to help reduce overtime costs in the department. At the committee’s January meeting, the committee tasked fire department administrators to come up with a plan of action to help lower those costs. The plan calls for filling vacant positions within the department to cut down on the overtime wages and Cocke County Fire Chief Keith Large reported to the committee that three employees have been hired and will begin the fire academy on Feb. 18 and graduate on May 8.